Ross Pearson all smiles after fighting through foot injury to K.O. Ryan Couture

UFC lightweight Ross Pearson’s hands looked great in his UFC on Fuel 9 fight with Ryan Couture, knocking the Strikeforce veteran out in the second round of their scrap. However, the Brit’s lower extremities were a different story as made evident by his victory speech when he referred to having possibly broken his foot backstage before the bout.

Pearson provided more detail on the matter to Fuel TV after the match-up where he couldn’t have been happier despite the adversity (and pain).

“It’s been a rough camp. I’ve had some knockbacks and I’ve had to fight through (them),” explained Pearson, chalking the misfortune up to one of the many struggles he’s had to overcome to find himself as a true fighter.

“The very first kick I threw warming up, I actually felt full shin hit (my coach’s) elbow, and I just dropped to the floor and I thought I’d hurt something again. I was in panic mode right there,” said Pearson, stating that his coaches calmed him down and got him as ready as possible for the challenge at hand.

“These type of things that happened tonight are the things I’ll remember forever. I’ll take this to my grave,” concluded the 15-6 Pearson. “These are the things that makes me realize I’m a real fighter and I’m here to do a job.”